Ashley Lightspeed Found What She Needed To Become A True Business Professional

Ashley Lightspeed wanted to be an architect like her father. She sat at the drafting table building things and sketching her ideas. She was actually prototyping. She studied at Copenhagen and learned how to use prototyping for business. Once she graduated, she established a consulting business in Bain. She decided she was interested in operational work and wanted to explore Silicon Valley. This was when she became a Category Manager for Thumbtack. She handled growth and customer experience for the category of Events & Weddings. Read more about Ashley Lightspeed at lsvp.com

Ashley Lightspeed was responsible for running client simulations at Bain and handled product idea wire-framing at Thumbtack. Prototyping has always been her tool of choice for product ideas and improvements during her career. She believes this is the entrepreneur’s key tool enabling faster iteration. While at Thumbtack, she completed work on a fundraising pitch deck and was exposed to venture capital for the first time. Her curiosity was aroused because she could see what was going to happen in the future regarding the the identification and support of trends prior to their establishment.

Eventually, Ashley Lightspeed left Thumbtack and began studying at Stanford. She also explored the options of founding a company of her own to help startups with consulting projects. These projects made her see she preferred working in several industries simultaneously. Working in partnerships with entrepreneurs and turning ideas into reality energized her. This was the beginning of Lightspeed. As a member of the company’s consumer investing team, she began cracking growth strategies for companies in the early stages.

She never lost her eye for true craftsmanship. She believes the spirit of craftsmanship creates, builds and enables the creator to care about the people they are working for. This gave her the patience to understand the needs of her clients and translate them into solutions. She made their lives healthier, easier and provided inspiration.